Remembrance
by Fionarox
Summary: Fiona is frozen, and is transported to a Neo Century where Zoids are used for mock battles and games. Along with the Blitz Team, she sets out with Zeke to save the Zoids from humans. The Backdraft has found out that Fiona has Zoidian powers. Read 4 more!
1. Returning

All Standard Disclaimers apply. I own the plot, not the characters. And if there are any errors on the Lena, Bit, Brad and Jamie part, please don't hesitate to REVIEW and tell me. Have fun reading, and don't forget to look at my other works!  
  
Remembrance  
  
The ice-cold pain that numbed her body was doubled by the blizzard in her face. Her long ash white hair spilling over her shoulders and the red blazer did nothing to combat the vicious wind. Her chalky face paled even more from the numbing cold, and her boots were frozen with ice. Her blonde eyelashes were coated with frost; she had difficulty keeping her ruby red eyes open. Her knapsack full of provisions for what was supposed to be a hike was freezing, and growing heavier by the minute. She was dying. She could feel her heart slow down, even falter on occasions. Her sharp intake of breath was the only thing that kept her from being blown into total unconsciousness. She was in disbelief. She thought death would be warm, a letting go, surrounded by her many friends. Now, she was alone, freezing to death, without friends, or even family. Family she couldn't remember. She briefly sighed, wasting more final minutes, before letting go of the rock she was clinging to. She fell, hitting rocks with jagged edges and sharp trees. Finally, she felt nothing, not even the ice incasing her body. The mountain she had been scaling, the hills that had defeated her let wind whistle triumphantly through their valleys coated with thick snow, and for a long time, none knew of the treasure at the heart of the desolate mountain.  
  
Thousands of years later, no one had missed the lone hiker that disappeared that day except a few, who searched for long periods of their life to find the lost girl. They looked in vain, for no one knew where she had last been seen. These select few passed down their quest, but finally, they gave up. The searchers died, and that era was lost. A new evolution passed the planet Zi, and the battles and sorrow of the past was not repeated. The remaining Zoids bound themselves to people, and remained with them throughout their lives. One Zoid in particular, a silver dinosaur shaped creature, would not find a human. It seemed to be searching for something, or someone, as though it's vermilion eyes could see a distant picture of the person it was chasing. Zoids were immortal, though their partners usually weren't. The silver organiod searched the world over, yet never found the thing it was looking for. It bonded itself to a young man, after his old, and beloved master died. The new master seemed similar to the old, with visions of illustrious fame dancing in his head, and a flame in his eyes. This blonde haired, green-eyed boy turned to his organiod for help, and they soon caught their dream by the tail. They piloted a Liger Zero, and joined a team of Zoids called the Blitz Team, along with Lena and Dr. Steve Toros (A.k.a. "Doc"), Brad Hunter, and Jamie Hemeros. This team rose to class S level, and clung there. It was during this era that a little hiker reemerges, and causes undiluted havoc.  
  
The medics on the scene were in mass pandemonium. They had finally discovered something in this rock bottom site. Although the research team was mainly for excavations like buildings and structures from the 'Chaotic Century', petrified plants, animals and such were common findings. Yet this was one of the greatest finds of the century! The leader of the team hoisted a crane lever, and pulled up a great slab of ice. Dully gleaming, there was something in the center that people were getting excited over. Doctor Toros had been asked to come down, albeit he was a Zoid specialist. He stared at the looming chunk of solid water before gasping out loud.  
  
"But-But it's impossible! A frozen child? This is a monumental find! It could alter history!" he shrugged his shaggy dark hair out of his face and continued to remark of the research teams' luck at such a specimen. He placed his palm against the grainy smooth of the ice, and shook his head in wonder. Just think, he thought, this person was probably hiking on this mountain when he died. I just wish we could get a clearer picture. He noticed a person out of the corner of his eye calling for a huge burner, but the Doc just stood there. When a few men in uniformed shoved him away, he glared at them resentfully, but they ignored him. Then, to his astonishment, the workers poured alcohol over the slab, and lit it on fire. He rushed forward, as if to somehow drench the flames, but was caught before he stepped two feet. To his enormous relief, the fire sizzled out when it reached the ice, therefore saving it. The Doctor was sighed. It could have harmed the body. He called out to the head of the group. He explained the situation, and said he would take it back to base, and thaw it with his extensive materials. When the foreman started to shake his head, the Doctor got on his knees and begged, promising to return it in a week, thawed or not. The manager finally agreed, and had his boys and girls wrap it up for shipping in an airtight chamber. Doc Toros, practically skipping with joy, hopped into his off road jeep and quickly drove back to base to gather the needed materials to thaw the giant ice cube. When he got there, he saw Lena throwing things, Bit running from said things, and Jamie reading quietly. Brad was no where in sight. Steve Toros sighed, and yelled for everyone, explaining the situation to only Jamie, who was the only one who understood anyway.  
  
The block of ice had arrived, and had been dropped off near the entrance. Bit paled when he saw the ice, thinking they had to move it. Lena swiped him over the head, insulting him the entire time for the attempted kidnapping of her snack. Bit's new Zoid that had bonded with him Bit Lena gently on the leg, which set her off again about stupid Zoids with misplaced loyalty. Bit grinned ruefully, and ducked all her punches, but stared at the Zoid when he wasn't avoiding Lena. It always seemed so sad; he pondered, so depressed. Its eyes are always so sad and down cast that Bit never even asked about its former master and past. The beast was taller than Bit, though not nearly as tall as the Liger. He silently prayed that the organiod would stop being so unhappy. He was about to get his wish.  
  
Doc Toros motioned for the organiod to inhabit the Liger, and push the great rock of ice onto one of the enormous heaters used to keep the base cool in the desert. These heaters gave off great amounts of heat, and were perfect for thawing something quickly. The great Zoid heaved the ice with little effort, and picked it up in its jaws to place it on the heater. The doc concluded the night, saying that he would check first thing in the morning how the defrosting had gone. Bit offered to help, and the doc agreed, so they both went to sleep earlier than usual to make up for getting up at five in the morning. Lena closed the hanger where the ice was stowed, letting the door shut with an air-escaping hiss. Silently, almost unnoticeably, water began to make its way out of its cold prison. The first part to appear was the person's feet, followed by her body, and then, finally, late into the night, the human who had been frozen was reborn in a new time. Her surprised weight collapsed on itself into a puddle of slush, and the unconscious youth slowly started to warm.  
  
Van.Zeke.so.cold..  
  
Her first thoughts were not for herself, until the cold sank in. She remembered falling down, spiraling through trees and rocks, then landing in the soft snow. She remembered.dying!  
  
She bolted upright, then began screaming.  
  
Bit was the first one to touch the access pad with his rushed fingertips; he could hear the first glass-shattering scream still. He opened the electronic door, then scrambled up to the heating pad where they had set the ice late yesterday. When he reached the pad, he stopped in his tracks, frozen as the ice had been. In its place was a huddled girl in her early teens with an oversized parka on. The red blazer could have fit a much larger person. The girl had an unbelievably pale face, with light blonde hair and crimson eyes the exact color of his organiods! He stared at the resemblance, not noticing his organiod come up behind him. Bit did however notice him when the unnamed Zoid roared with delight and ran over Bit to reach the girl. Bit was seeing stars as the girl stopped screaming and started sobbing instead. Brad, the ruthless mercenary appeared behind what was left of Bit, and Lena arrived with her father. Jamie arrived wearing his pajamas and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He woke up immediately though when he saw the girl. He rushed over, and began typing furiously on the main data processor located in this bay. He was hurriedly pulling up files dating back at least a thousand years earlier. The info was grainy half-truths and legends, but Jamie was an excellent computer analyzer. He picked up a photo, amazingly preserved in a computer's database at the ancient ruins of New Helic City, of people. An exuberant, tan girl with brown braids and a big grin smiled at the camera, with an older teenager with brown hair and an eye patch over one eye. There were two kids, a young boy with wildly spiked black hair and a ponytail behind him. He had laughter in his eyes and a smile on his face. Behind him, stood Bit's organiod with a cheerful grin on his face, and bright, alert eyes that flashed against the sun. Clapping her hands silently next to the boy was a young girl, with soft pointed hair, and a long loose end in the back. Her eyes were closed, but her pale complexion, the twin turquoise triangles and facial structure was identical to the girl in front of them. Wordlessly, Jamie gesticulated to the girl in the picture to the sobbing child in front of them. Lena gasped with shock, and nearly fainted. Brad paled, and stepped back, against the wall. Bit, still in a painful heap on the floor, widened his eyes in stunned silence. Suddenly fearful, the girl stopped crying and looked up to the strange people in front of her. Her hands were shaking, in fact, all of her was shaking. Lena was shaking too, but it was more from surprise that there was a three thousand-year-old girl in her Zoid hanger. The Doctor was trembling with excitement, and stepped forward.  
  
"My.name.is.Doctor.Toros." he said slowly, as if talking to someone hard of hearing. The girl gripped the organiod and stood next to him. As she stood, her blazer started to fall off her slim frame. She grasped it with her other hand, and feebly held onto the Zoid that was nuzzling her. She stared with petrified eyes at her surroundings. Bit saw how warmly the organiod treated the mysterious little brat and stepped forward to grab him. As his hand brushed the air near the small Zoid, the girl stared at him with terrified and angry eyes. She held out her hand in front of his face, and said a whisper. He felt the air whirling in front of him around the girl, and found himself imbedded in the wall twenty feet away from the girl, who placed her trembling hand back on the organiods sleek surface. Lena and Jamie rushed over to Bit, but Bit, Brad and the doc just stared at the petite girl who had just tossed a grown teenager with powers not visible.  
  
The organiod roared in pleasure, then opened up the girl's locked memories containing the power she had just unwittingly used. The Doctor stepped forward cautiously, making the silent girl's head turn toward him. The Doctor gestured in alarm towards the picture on the huge screen beside her that she had yet to see. When she did, tears started to course silently down her cheeks again, and she traced the young boys smiling face with a forefinger.  
  
"Van" she whispered longingly, and that plaintive whisper held more yearning that Lena or anyone else knew existed. The girl tottered forward on unsteady feet towards the panels, and started to type. Jamie reached over to stop her, but the Doc motioned for him to remain still. He did, and watched the strange girl hack beyond files that he knew existed. He saw gigabytes full of knowledge dance from her fingertips, then saw what she had been looking for. It was another picture, this one no less recent then the others had been. It held a group of people, all older than the first picture, with the words 'Guardian Force' written in gold underneath the people. There, in the middle, was a couple, the young people from the other picture, only much older. The girl was there as well, with thick gold hair and red eyes. Somehow, during the long period of ice, the girl's body had metamorphosed to an earlier form. Standing in front of the Blitz team was a remembrance of the past, staring straight ahead into the future.  
  
Lena was the one who finally got the girl into some decent clothes and bed. By that time, it was noon and everyone was worn out. The team decided to hold a meeting, and gathered into the usual place. Doc joined them.  
  
"I think we should keep her." Steve started.  
  
"She isn't some pet Zoid dad!" Lena said angrily. Her father backed down, and finished what he was going to say.  
  
"I think we should keep her away from the media and news. You know how many archaeologists would pay to even talk to her? She could help Jamie with the base, and the Zoids and all." He finished triumphantly.  
  
"You don't even know who she is. I found a file on her from the files she unlocked for us. Her name is Fiona Aleece Lynette. She was part of an elite team to protect harmony between the Republic and the Empire, both of which have now formed the ZBC. She was one of the only remaining ancient Zoidians who inhabited Zi before humans from the blue planet, also known as earth, crash-landed here. Zoidians are telekinetic and telepathic; they are also connected to organiods. That's why Bit's won't respond to him anymore. It's hers. Also, she went missing after trying to scale a mountain, looking for a rare artifact the Zoidians had. After the mountain storms passed that year, she didn't return." Jamie offered, stunning everyone into silence. Well, almost everyone.  
  
"We could sell her," offered Brad in an offhand way, "She'd make a fortune being rented to Zoid pilots looking for Zoid interpreters." Lena turned on him angrily, and he shut up.  
  
"How can you think of selling her into slavery when she's already been through so much? She's in the body of a twelve year old, with a mind as old as time!" she shouted. Bit stared sullenly at the floor.  
  
"That's a little melodramatic Lena! Don't get all poetic on us. I want my Zoid back. My back hurts. I don't wanna have her here." He continued his rant until Lena slapped him where it hurt. On the back. He yelped, then ducked for cover as the Zoidian's savior came with an upraised hand. Brad shrugged, closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. Jamie watched the two roll on the ground with mixed apprehension and amusement. The sun high over their heads, the Blitz team decided to keep the girl around for a while.  
  
Days later, Zeke was hounding the little girl, and the eager little changeling eagerly accepted his fond caresses. Bit watched the two with envy; he had lost the driving force beneath his power. But he thought it was odd, the girl seemed to only think, and the Zoid would be there, seemingly conversing with her mind. And that time she threw him against a wall with a gust of wind? Bit knew the girl could be helpful to there team, so just put on a cheerful smile whenever she was near him. Eventually, that smile grew real, and friendship bloomed between the team and their odd little mascot. For that was what she had become, not only an apprentice to Jamie and Doc, but a little sister to Lena and a helpful advisor to Brad. Her skill with Zoids was extraordinary, and they seemed to move at her thought, not mere touch. Lena's modified Gunsniper nearly blew its cannons when her small little hand touched a loose bolt.  
  
The Doc watched all these proceedings with a close eye, and had Jamie report any others. Lena stayed with the pale, shy girl, and tried to break the shell of sorrow and remorse that seemed to cover the child like a comfort blanket. Persuasion never seemed to work, until the Blitz team had another run in with the Backdraft. Another illegal challenge provoked a hard answer from all the members. Doctor Toros decided that Jamie, Bit and Lena would battle the opposing team of three virtually unknown fighters. The instant Fiona understood what was happening she ran from the meeting room everyone was located in, into the Zoids hanger, followed closely by Zeke. She turned toward the silver organoid and nodded firmly. He opened his metallic chest, and silent snakelike cables slithered out to wrap around her prone form. She sighed, feeling the comfort of dissolving into Zeke, becoming one with her mentor and playmate from birth. He leaped into the Liger Zero, and Fiona found herself welling up with tears at the thought of how alike the cockpit was to Van's Blade Liger's. She pressed the button that would open the com-link to Jamie alone, and whispered through the mike the first words that she had spoken in a long time.  
  
"Zoids are not tools or playthings. They are free spirits who live and die if they are hurt. I have seen enough Zoid deaths, and I am not going to let you hurt any Zoids." Her quiet, shy voice carried through Jamie like a beacon, for he knew her words to be true. Yet still, he knew that Zoids loved their masters, those that were not cruel, and willingly fought for them.  
  
"Fiona, you can't take Bit's Zoid, he'll freak and you don't know how to fight!" he said it all very quietly to the mike underneath his ear, yet somehow Bit knew.  
  
"What's she doing with my Liger? That wild thing will never let her ride him! Get her out! Now!" he started to run to the hanger, but the Doctor stopped him.  
  
"Lets see whether she can officially join the Blitz team. I want to know where her fighting stance is. Register her Jamie."  
  
"As good as done Doc!" Jamie said cheerfully, watching his little friend charge away to the battlefield. He suddenly turned to Lena, "Come on, we can't let her go out on her own!" the fiery haired girl suddenly turned pale.  
  
"Uh oh."  
  
Everyone turned to the vid screen she pointed to, and a large picture of the lonely Doctor Layon appeared, complete with smug smile and remorseful eyes.  
  
"Dr. Toros, I believe that today is the day that I extract vengeance upon all that you have wrong me. You really are pathetic. Sending out one punt Liger versus my three updated Gunsnipers! It really is very stupid of you. And it will only cost you a mere one hundred thousand dollars!" the man laughed with vicious glee. He saluted the Doc, then turned off his connection. He then tried to establish a link to the lone pilot standing uncertainly in the desert. He pushed a button, and his face lit up with unhidden happiness.  
  
"Let the games begin."  
  
A pod burst out of the huge flying ship, headed straight for the ground. When it landed, a sinisterly black, maniacally laughing robot connected to the now-opened pod, burst out.  
  
"Battle area secured, all fighters entered!" here the monstrosity giggled in a high voice. "Ready? Too bad! Go!" the robot sliced its metallic arms through the air, signaling the start of a battle to the death.  
  
Fiona, a hundred yards off and in a strange Zoid found herself suddenly surrounded by large Zoids with many deposits of ammo strung around it's many guns. She sprang into action, leaping the Zoid high in the air, and crashing down on one of the Zoids. It collapsed under the Ligers great weight, and Fiona turned to next poor target. She brought out the sabers on either side of the great, cat-like Zoid she piloted, and cut of the poor Zoids legs, rearing it unable to move. The last Zoid was no trouble what so ever to the Zoidian, who used her powers of skillful understanding to bring the target down with her guns located beneath the shoulder armor.  
  
Unknown to Fiona, she was being watched closely by the members in the ZBC, in one café similar to all the others, Zoid fighters watched an unknown pilot bring down three fighters, and get away virtually untouched. Their shock was furthered when the pilot made sure that the battle was over, and she had won, but a child dropped out of the cockpit and ran quickly over to the damaged Zoids. A child with long white hair, and pale skin. The camera managed to get a close up of her face, and part of the vid screen froze in a corner with the face on it. She ran to the Zoid with no legs first and put a tender, remorseful hand over the stump, with crackling blue electricity surrounding it. She concentrated, and spread her arms wide. To the Blitz team shock, she healed the Zoid and the others as well. As Jamie watched the pilots' statistics, he watched a growing danger blossom. The Zoids were perfectly fine, with peak performance levels, but only two of the three pilots were unconscious. The third suddenly sprang for the Liger, and in the process, Fiona was swept aside. With a surprised cry, she flew into the air and landed with a soft moan in the hard packed sand. The Liger, under assault, could barely help its human friend, while the Gunsniper used its razor sharp hands to tear the Liger to pieces.  
  
Fiona, watching this development with shock, suddenly saw flames surround her vision. She had seen enough destruction to know that this wasn't exactly the same thing back in her time, but it was even worse. Humans brutally wounded Zoids in their endless exploit of lesser creatures. She reached into herself with her mind, and felt the power that Zeke had woken when he had first seen her. Her memories had flooded back to her the first time she had bonded with Zeke, and this time, she had been reunited with her Zoidian powers. Why not test her spells in a Zoid battle? Her mouth was set in a grim slash. She'd be just like the other greedy humans on Zi.  
  
She turned toward the angered Gunsniper, and opened her arms. Palms cupped, she held them out as if making an offering to the God that the poor dead Reverend had believed in. She dug deep into her subconscious, and came back to her human form.  
  
"Diarnos." She whispered, feeling shock waves surround her body, pulsing in time to her heartbeat. 'Capture' she thought, translating it in her head. Her hair floating behind her, Lena's old clothes slapping against her thin frame, she let the energy puddle into her hand and onto the sandy floor below. The instant the water-like, flowing energy touched the ground, it began slithering like a snake toward the rouge Zoid. It surrounded it, then formed a tight, pale green bubble around the Zoid. The Liger, finally freed, bounded around the desert like a newborn colt, frolicking in the mounds of sand made by drifting winds. Fiona smiled like a child at the free, careless happiness of the Zoid; it was the first she had smiled in a long time. Fiona turned expectantly toward her bubble of power, and found the poor Zoid limp, its pilot unconscious at last. She focused her Zoidian powers, and brought the energy streaming back to her. She smiled again, her own smile.  
  
Now that Fiona had unlocked her powers, she could repay Lena and Jamie for their kindness at helping her through her troubles. She happily skipped over to the Liger, acting like the child she looked like. She did not know that battles were recorded from cameras, or that Doctor Layon had also received a recorded image of the battle. Fiona did not know many things. Alteil, Sarah and Doctor Layon, all of the Backdraft and the entire world are now aware of the precious jewel the Blitz team holds in their possession.  
  
Fiona's ride home was not a short one. She had run a long way from base. She had time to muddle out a few thoughts, and when she reached base, she jumped from the Zoid to the ground. The team had assembled. Mainly, they came to see if she was safe and unharmed. She rushed into Lena's arms, crying for some reason unknown to the group. They found out a few hours later when Lena did a check on her vitals. She had broken her left arm. Doc braced it, and Brad applied a sticky substance to it, making it solid in seconds. Her cast complete, Fiona walked over to Bit, and laid her head on his shoulder. She whispered how sorry she was for taking the Liger, and how uncomfortable she made him around the base, and she apologized for throwing him into the wall. Bit nodded, his spiky blonde hair waving in the air. He smiled at her, forgiving all past deeds and starting a new slate. Brad leaned against the doorway, silently waiting for a childish face, or the 'hello' she usually said to him in the mornings. She practically ran to him and hugged him with one hand. He awkwardly placed his hand on the small of her back, and returned the hug. Jamie got a hug too, and a few whispered comments. Doc stood there, watching the little girl he had literally melted come toward him. He motioned for her to come with him, and she followed, with a small smile on her lips.  
  
The Doc pushed her into the office, and started talking quickly.  
  
"Fiona, listen. I have a dilemma that I need your help with. You see, you were melted out of a giant ice cube, and the team that had found you up on that mountain wants the remains of your body. They phoned yesterday. They don't know you are, in fact, alive. So what should I do? You've got to hide all day tomorrow in Lena's bedroom, and I want to make sure you want to stay with us. If you went with these people, you could tell them so much about your ancient culture! Think about the book deals! The movie rights!" the Doc got stars in his eyes as he babbled on about moneymaking ventures. Fiona smiled shyly again and whispered a "No," for the Doctor to hear. He definitely heard, but went on talking. Inside, he was pleased that she had decided to stay. Lena was making her out to be her daughter, and it seemed like just about everyone appreciated her quiet helpfulness. Fiona turned and left, leaving the abandoned Doctor to play with his Zoid models. 


	2. Continuing

I own nothing in this story except the plot! Enjoy your reading!  
  
That night, Fiona slept listlessly on her cot in Lena's room. She listened to her own harsh breathing, then Lena's quieter breaths and thought about how she would amuse herself during the long day tomorrow. She shrugged mentally, and concentrated on bringing a glowing orb of power to her hand. It did, flashing a brilliant white. Slowly, straining with the concentration of not waking Lena, Fiona brought a laughing image of Van's face, along with Irvine and Moonbay to the orb. They were smiling, laughing talking. Just hearing their voices made her eyes fill with unshed tears. But they didn't spill over, she knew that if Van were here, he would want her to be strong, in this far off time when the deeds of Van Flyhieght weren't even heard of, and the shadow of the Deathsaurer was a mere legend. She played the ball of light like a movie, watching their adventures together, remembering, lest she forget him, and her past.  
  
The next morning, Fiona didn't even know she had fallen asleep. Zeke nudged her awake during lunch. Fiona's hair stuck to her bedraggled state; her eyes were only half-open. Her arm ached, and she pulled it close to her body. The loose pajamas she had worn to sleep encumbered her when she tried to get up; they were tighter than ropes around her body. The organiods warm metal slowly, tenderly helped her out of her cot. She hastily made her bed and shoved it under Lena's, stowing it until further use. She glanced around the spacious, yet dark room. Lena had been kind and let Fiona sleep in, she had darkened the room by not turning on the fluorescent lights that were in every room in the base. She placed a small hand on the lights, but heard voices in the hallway. Suddenly remembering the Doc's warning to stay hidden, she scooted under the bed, leaving Zeke exposed. The organoid tried to act naturally, and succeed in looking like a Zoid with intelligence below normal. The lights were flicked on, and Fiona saw perhaps five pairs of feet.  
  
"And this is my daughter, Lena's room. Now, as I've told you, the hunk of ice revealed nothing! I placed it on the heater, yet nothing was thawed from it, when my team fighter Bit here came to check on it, there was only a big puddle of slush to instigate that anything remotely similar to ice had been there." She heard the Doctor saying patiently. She heard another voice, one that was unfamiliar to her say back callously; "I cannot believe that pack of lies. Everyone saw something in that ice. I say you are hiding something." He finished, and Fiona could tell that he had an icy sneer on his face. She cowered, sensing great evil in this man's purpose. While she examined her powers closer, she failed to here the discussion between everyone at base and the mysterious visitor.  
  
"Mr. Teilla, let me explain to you the nights events, again." Bit said, but was interrupted.  
  
"Enough! I have heard enough from you Zoid bandits. That extravagant girl was obviously from the Blitz team, after you found the block of ice. Cryogenics are possible in these days, aren't they?" he said with a sly smile. He spread his arms wide, in a powerful gesture. "A girl with such power could be worth riches unimaginable." He looked at Brad, and handed him a card. "Call me if you suddenly remember something. I'll be waiting." He stepped out of the room, and called shrewdly over his shoulder, "The girl is here. You could be put to jail for withholding such valuable information from us. Even if you weren't lying, that power the girl held could lead to legal action. Beware what you do next." Then he walked away, his coat swung over the shoulders of his suit. The desert breeze made his hair shift, and he climbed curtly into the camouflaged jeep waiting for him. He said something, and swiftly, the car drove off.  
  
The man in the suit was in fact Alteil, proud, arrogant, and a top ranking official in the Backdraft, who opposed the Zoid Battle Commission. He planned to actually take over the ZBC, and was waiting for enough power to make that happen. It seemed that the power was a gift of the Mountain of Ice, so appropriately named. He smoothed back his aging brow, and tapped his head, covered with dark hair, streaked gray. He leaned against his seat, and let his plan slowly come to his head. He smiled sinisterly as the thoughts floated into his head. It was all coming together now.  
  
"Those fools! I can get the girl, then the Ultimate X will be mine!" he whispered, and laughed into the noon sky, so bright and carefree for children and those few truly happy people, but to the dark man, burning in awaited judgement for those who sin Fiona crept out slowly; wanting to make sure the evil man was gone. She sighed in relief, and was enveloped into a hug from Lena. Fiona whispered that she wanted to try to heal her arm, but alone, with only Lena around. The older girl agreed, eyes creasing worriedly. Lena wondered how the little girl could do such things, but during the girl's extended stay, thought of it as an extension of Fiona, rather then some magical phenomenon. Brad watched them all through hooded eyes. He was under mental assault. He didn't know whether to take the offer of money, or stay happily here with his teammates and their new apprentice. He shrugged to himself, promising himself to think about while he slept. Jamie walked quietly out of the room; he was getting weirded out by this whole encounter.  
  
One by one, all occupants left the room through various degrees of whining, begging and bribing. Finally, it was just Fiona and Lena, the high sun pouring light from above. Fiona looked sadly at the hard; imprisoned left arm, and searched deep within herself to find the healing she needed. She found it, and her soul soared back from her subconscious to be reunited with the real world. Unfortunately, the real world included paparazzi, which meant one photographer suspended by a crane to peek into the bedroom. Ordinarily, this would be considered against the law, but the media is not so scrupulous that it will pay attention to a few broken laws for good stories, photos, etc. Lena did not notice the shade from the sun, intent as she was from watching Fiona work her 'magic'.  
  
Fiona calmly whispered, "Flamis et treviam" and stroked her left arm where it had broken to the tips of her fingers. She felt a slight trickle of power flow through her body before her arm was enveloped with a turquoise hinted hue. It was at that exact moment that the photographer took his picture, with at least one hundred watts flashing at the concentrated duo.  
  
Fiona cried out in pain as her arm began to hiss, the power burning from the great quantity of electrical power. She gasped and writhed on the floor in hollow agony as she surged her mental control to stop the pain. She succeeded in controlling the loose power, and returned it to finally knit the last of the bones together. She did not hesitate to draw away the power the second it was done, and glare with murderous eyes at the intrusion of her privacy. Wisely, the photographer chose to try and disembark from his vantage point. Fiona stopped him with a whispered word that had saved her from the rampaging Gunsniper.  
  
"Diarnos," she said out loud, increasing the power of such a spell. The man was caught in an airtight bubble of turquoise tinted green, and began to gasp for air. Fiona gestured with her fully recovered left hand, and brought the camera out of the bubble, through the unopened window, and to her waiting palm. She whispered another spell, more dangerous than any before.  
  
"Gaeis."  
  
Burn, she thought with relish. The camera instantly disintegrated into ash from invisible flames. Fiona released the man from suffocation, and cut his suspension cable, sending him not to an early death, but to a soft landing on hard ground. When the willowy figured girl turned her head up to meet Lena's eyes, she saw fond pride. Lena mussed the girl's hair and exclaimed over her new knowledge of the spells she could command. Fiona nodded, proud, but weary. She requested to sleep once more, and she fell upon the bed once Lena had accepted her plea. She dreamed of black things that slithered and crawled, and evil things that held up fearful instruments. When Fiona woke up in a cold sweat, she noticed the rising moons with resentment, in a horrible mood and no one awake to talk to her. She saw something move then, on the desert floor through Lena's window. She saw it gleaming shiny silver in the moons' light, and decided to investigate. After walking out of the base's defensive system, she walked quickly through the cold sand to the last place she had seen the glistening object. When she reached the place quietly, her boot-shod feet softly crunching molecules of sand, she let out a quiet gasp of astonishment. There, sitting in the moonlight was Zeke, gazing with raised muzzle at the two moons. She ran to him, and hugged him with her newly healed hand. He was unresponsive, and Fiona knew how unlike him this was. She drew away, puzzled deeply at the organiods lack of interest, and looked deep into his ruby red eyes.  
  
Except that his eyes were a deep black, unmoving and unblinking. Zeke had either been knocked unconscious or some evil had befallen him. Looking around, suddenly wary, she glanced back at the unlocked base, and the rocks that hid her from view. The sand mounds piled up around them, making the valley she had descended into look like nothing more than a collection of dunes. She gasped and drew in her breath to scream, not hearing a quiet "now," whispered with certainty. She felt a pair of metallic arms draw her into its fold, sharp claws squeezing into her soft, unblemished skin. 


End file.
